Chapter Text
It was in the planetarium where they had first seen each other. The constellations were scattered across the dome, casting an array of stars above their heads. Goro sat with his legs childishly crossed while mostly everyone else sat with their knees pulled up comfortably. The ring of people were situated around the walls in darkness and even then, he could see him from across the circle. His white t-shirt was visible in the dim lightning and a star cluster reached his spot on the floor and projected across his features. A part of him wondered if, in another life, he could be one of the gods from mythology, such as Eros.
“Eros, the mischievous god of love, a minion and constant companion of the goddess Aphrodite. In ancient case paintings, Eros is depicted as either a handsome youth or as a child…”
He zoned out as the planetary instructor told stories about mythological figures in relation to the constellations. The boy across from him seemed quite intrigued, Goro decided to use this opportunity upon him to admire his beauty. it was when the instructor forced a terrible joke about the Sagittarius centaur that a subtle rumble of laughter erupted throughout the orrery. Goro watched in awe as a smile broke out on his pink lips, revealing a perfect alignment of gleaming pearls that caused his eyes to crinkle. A laughter bubbled in his throat, one that sounded like everything right in the world and every star casted by the projector seemed to implode in slow motion.
He only wished he was over dramatizing the world pausing for such a mere amount of milliseconds that probably no one was even hyper conscious enough to be aware.
He only wished that about three quarters into the total length of his spontaneous, instinctive expression that he didn’t meet eyes with him. It was only then that Goro looked away from him. his cheeks became molten and he tried to focus on the words being taught, but it was all jumbled up into some sort of dyslexic hearing. He wondered if the boy was some immortal being, fooling around in the contemporary world and manipulating the minds of naive young men and women alike in order to entertain his boring, never ending years.
Goro looked back to see that the boy’s focus was still on him, a glint of ethereality in his eyes that gave his irises a natural sparkle in the dark. He only wished that he would look away.
Goro looked up to the sagittarius archer and prayed that he would shoot him down with his bow and arrow right at that moment. thought it seemed as if the only arrow he was receiving was from cupid, who had been sitting across from him all along.
In his panicked mind, the dome began to feel smaller and smaller around him and the oxygen was cutting around him. Followed by the discreet tugging at his collar, he began to crawl past three or four people toward the small exit. Reaching outside was like discovering a secret doorway to heaven as the light hit his eyes and a fresh breeze reached his lungs.
Love at first sight was a complete scam. It wasn’t as if they would meet eyes and the boy would chase him down and cast him off to a tropical island where they would spend the rest of their years. Not even bringing up the fact that they were both of the same gender, the idea of Goro suddenly ending up with the mysterious boy seemed very unlikely.
He often wondered why it was portrayed that way in stories when it was never realistically possible to live a life that perfect. Fairytales were purely delusional and pointless in his opinion.
Reality just isn’t as forgiving as people would like to think.
“Wait,” someone called out behind him.
This was a time where Goro wished it were possible to have eyes on the back of his head so that he wouldn’t have to face whoever was about to encounter his flustered appearance. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work that way either.
Goro turned to see Eros himself, standing there with a microscopic smile and he tried to latch onto his beliefs that instant love was a hoax and that he probably wasn’t even real in the first place.
It wasn’t until he looked down at the familiar key ring hooked around the boy’s slender finger, and then at his empty pocket where they were no longer present. He was returning his keys.
But it was still him that had come out during the planetarium presentation, which Goro had noticed was intriguing to him. Maybe this was still contemporarily a big deal.
“You forgot these,” the boy spoke again, causing Goro's heart to combust. His voice was something he had never heard before and his words held a distinct foreign feeling to them. He wished to hear it again but he didn’t think that would be happening if he didn’t respond - which was something he couldn’t bring himself to do. Three earrings studded on lobes of both of the boy’s ears and Goro’s throat clogged with air. He felt incredibly stupid standing there frozen with a stupid look on his face.
“Thanks,” he finally managed, “They must’ve fallen out while i was sitting down.”
“Yeah, they were just laying there,” the boy trailed off.
They both breathed out a quiet “yeah” before a thick silence grew between them for a couple of moments. He wished that he had an explanation for his flushed cheeks.
“Akira,” the boy spoke up again, sparking his confusion. The boy took notice of it before saying, “My name, it’s Akira,” and all of Goro’s emotions seeped back into his sensitive heart. It was a common name to have, yet somehow fit the boy standing in front of him perfectly. He was full of emotion for Akira, with such a name that he thought just anyone could have. a very ordinary name for someone as significant as him.
“Akechi Goro,” he replied, secretly thinking that Akira’s name was much more important compared to his.
“Somehow it suits you. it’s a really cute name,” Akira voiced. Goro wanted to get angry and maybe even slap him. How could he believe that his name was cute like his? How could he, Eros, the mischievous god of love, be complimenting him like so?
“Not really. I know a lot of Akiras, but you’re the first one to catch my eye. Mind telling me your last name?”
“Hm, it’s a secret. but maybe i’ll tell you another time, Goro.” he smiled beautifully before returning to the orrery and disappearing into the entrance. Goro was left there feeling absolutely stupid for not knowing what to do; for being left there with a cliffhanger and not knowing what it meant; for maybe prying into what could be his personal business even though it was just a name; for burning in flames after he had given him the sweetest of smiles; for wanting to follow him back into the darkness of the planetarium and watch him some more.
Love at first sight was a hoax and Goro decided that he wanted to melt into the floor rather than disappearing into thin air so that maybe he’d get the privilege of getting stepped on by him one good time.